Route 138 Steering Committee making progress in Raynham

Tuesday

RAYNHAM — A Route 138 Steering Committee is being brought back to life, Raynham Town Planner John Charbonneau said during a report he made to the Raynham Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night.

"I've been working for the last four or five months to reactive the Route 138 Steering Committee," Charbonneau said. "We met three or four times over the last few months and have made progress."

Charbonneau said the group has reached a consensus on how to proceed with potential zoning for the Route 138 corridor.

"The committee reached consensus on how to proceed," Charbonneau said. "Right now the discussion is, rather than proceeding with one mixed-use overlay district for the entire corridor, we are going to do it a little differently we are going to create one district for the north and south portion. One for the area that's more commercialized. And a second overlay district, District 2, for the middle part that is scaled down and is more residential. … This is an acknowledgment that this is a complicated corridor."

Charbonneau said that the town will now move away from "spot zoning" that is currently the practice on Route 138, " to make it smooth for everyone."

He also said that related zoning bylaws would not be ready to vote on until the Town Meeting to be held in the fall of 2014.

Charbonneau also gave an update on the Raynham Park slot proposal, explaining that he has determined that Phase 1 of the project, which would involve the temporary transformation of the current building to be remodeled and equipped with slot machines, will not need a site plan approval.

"Therefore we can proceed straight to dealing with the building department for their demolition permit and their building permits," Charbonneau said. "They are not going to require a public hearing for Phase 1. For subsequent phases, yes, but just for the temporary slot parlor portion they will not need to have a public hearing before the planning board, which saves them probably a good three months of public hearing and advertising and review. It saves them some time and money at the front end and is a feather in their cap I'm sure with the (state) gaming commission."

Charbonneau also announced that he continues to work on other proposed bylaws, including one related to the farming of honeybees on residential properties, and ongoing work to craft a zoning proposal regulating the location of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Also during Tuesday's meeting, Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Pacheco announced the beginning of a coordinated effort to crack down on abandoned properties in the town. Pacheco said Raynham Health Agent David Flaherty would coordinate the effort.

"There seems to be more abandoned properties popping up," said Pacheco, who has counted at least five abandoned properties in town recently.

Pacheco said that abandoned properties cause problems for the police and the fire departments, and that they bring down the value of surrounding homes.

"It's a sign of the times but we also realize we have an older population who have owned 100-year-old buildings, which factors into this as well," Pacheco said.

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